After some heavy hinting from Roger Taylor, Lambert revealed to British newspaper the Daily Star that he'd be filling in for late frontman Freddie Mercury. “The intention is to pay tribute to Freddie and the band by singing some f---ing great songs," Lambert said. "It’s to keep the music alive for the fans and give it an energy that Freddie would have been proud of.”

Lambert will join the band for the Sonisphere Festival, which will tour throughout Europe. One of their stops will be Knebworth in England, where Mercury performed his last gig with Queen in 1986.

This won't be Lambert's first time performing with the 'Bohemian Rhapsody' hitmakers. He sang for them during the finale of his star-making season of 'American Idol' as well as at the 2011 MTV EMAs in November. When asked about his 2009 'Idol' performance, Lambert said, “Straight away I thought: ‘These guys are so f---ing rad.’ They’re a class act, so sweet and paternal and on a musical level really open to great new experiences.”

The band hasn't yet discussed recording with Lambert, but he's certainly open to the idea. “It’d be cool to record with Brian and Roger. Being asked to front Queen is the best thing that can possibly happen.”

While Mercury is one of Lambert's heroes, he isn't trying to replace him. “After the EMAs, I heard faint little slithers of a backlash from people saying: ‘You can’t replace Freddie Mercury.’ But I already knew that," Lambert said. “There’s no intention in my mind of replacing Freddie. That’s impossible. The way I’m choosing to view it is that it’s a great honour and one I’m in no way going to shirk.”